Australian Open

[blackbishop]

Wikipedia suggests that the Australian Open Chess Championships began in 1971 yet there are many tournaments that billed themselves as the "Australian Open" before that year.
For example:

The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)
Mon 7 Jan 1952 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...n%20Tournament

Is there any basis for the Open beginning in 1971?

[Bill Gletsos]

Wikipedia suggests that the Australian Open Chess Championships began in 1971 yet there are many tournaments that billed themselves as the "Australian Open" before that year.
For example:

The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)
Mon 7 Jan 1952 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...n%20Tournament

Is there any basis for the Open beginning in 1971?

I suspect the Open in 1971 is considered the first “Australian Open” as it had international players.

The inaugural Australian Open was a 10 player round robin held in Dec 1947-Jan 1948 in Melbourne was the first of what was to be a biennial event and was won by CJS Purdy.
This tournament was actually a rename of a tournament that started out in 1925 called the Pietzcker.

[blackbishop]

I suspect the Open in 1971 is considered the first “Australian Open” as it had international players.

The inaugural Australian Open was a 10 player round robin held in Dec 1947-Jan 1948 in Melbourne was the first of what was to be a biennial event and was won by CJS Purdy.
This tournament was actually a rename of a tournament that started out in 1925 called the Pietzcker.

Mr J A Pietzcker was a President of the Melbourne Chess Club and the Consul for Switzerland.
Johannes Alexander Pietzcker (Honorary Swiss Consul, Melbourne, 1932 – 1951)

During the second world war Johannes apparently acted to address problems experienced by German Nationals interned at the Tatura Internment camp, Victoria.

Around 1925 he suggested that an annual tournament be conducted in Melbourne to attract players from all over Australia and improve the quality of Australian Chess. He donated some prize money for the event. This became known as the Melbourne Christmas Tournament, the Pietzcker Christmas Tournament and, The Australian Open Tournament.

“One of the club's great benefactors was J.A.Pietzcker, who served his first term as president in 1925 and was a member for over 60 years. He flourished during the age of Gundersen. It is to Pietzcker we owe the Australian Open tournament, for that event was a revival of the Pietzcker tourney, endowed by him and held between 1925 and 1940. The Australian Open tournament was conducted by the club every 2 years from 1947 until 1953. Then the ACF took over, but did hold the first Australian Open championship until 1971: the Karlis Lidums International chess tournament.”

https://www.melbournechessclub.org/care-for-a-game by Bob Brooking, Melbourne Chess Club, History.

Winners of the Pietzcker Christmas tournaments:
1925/26 G Gundersen (5.5/6)
1926/27 G Gundersen (4/4)
1927/28 SH Woinarski (4.5/5)
1928/29 FM Crowl & CG Watson (4/5)
1929/30 BW Stenhouse (6/8)
1931 (April) FA Crowl (4/5)
1931/32 FA Crowl (4.5/5)
1932 (Oct/Nov) CJS Purdy (6/7)
1933/34 CG Watson (6/7)
1935/36 FA Crowl (7.5/10)
1936/37 L Steiner (5.5/6)
1937/38 M Green & CG Watson (5.5/6)
1940 (Mar/Apr) S Lazare (4/6)
1940 (Dec) S Lazare (5/5)

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...242924&kpage=2
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...s%20tournament

[blackbishop]

Karlis Lidums Australian Open.

Winner was Lajos Portisch (Hungary). He won by half a point from Walter Browne, Florin Gheorghiu (Romania) and Lothar Schmidt (Germany).

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess Karlis Lidums
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess Keres not coming
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess 2nd
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess 3rd
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess 4th
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess 5th
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess 7th
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess 7th
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess 8th
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess 9th
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess

[blackbishop]

2013 Australian Open Championships run by the North’s Chess Club, Cammeray, NSW.

Winner for 2013, was fifteen year old Bobby Cheng. Equal second were Max Illingworth, Zong-Yuan Zhao and Moulthon Ly.

https://sites.google.com/site/2013oz...s/results/open (Picassa Album link is broken)
https://en.chessbase.com/post/fabulo...ustralian-open (Jamie Kenmure)

Videos by Kerry Stead
Round 9 review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8cVrq5j1YQ
Round 10 review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EHAm-hp06w
Round 11 review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-5N7FH3al4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Cheng
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Kharisma_Sukandar

[blackbishop]

I suspect the Open in 1971 is considered the first “Australian Open” as it had international players.

The inaugural Australian Open was a 10 player round robin held in Dec 1947-Jan 1948 in Melbourne was the first of what was to be a biennial event and was won by CJS Purdy.
This tournament was actually a rename of a tournament that started out in 1925 called the Pietzcker.

The First Pietzcker Christmas Tournament was held at the Melbourne Chess Club in 1925/1926. The group photo includes Gunnar Gunderson, twelve times Victorian Champion and “MCC Secretary, I Rosenblum”. Edward Rosenblum wrote, “Seventy Years of Victorian Chess” in 1926.

FirstPietzcker.pdf

[blackbishop]

Australian Open December - January 1983 at the Hakoah Chess Club, Sydney

After two rounds. Photo of the eventual winner Darryl Johansen.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...20Mott%20chess
This article states that Max Fuller defeated the reigning open champion Bent Larsen. The reigning champion was Robert Jamieson.

Second last round.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess

Winners.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...archTerm=chess

Terrey Shaw on the Ian Rogers, Lloyd Fell game.
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-145368339...e/n82/mode/1up

[blackbishop]

Peter Parr’s day by day account of the Australian Open 2011 at Norths, Cammeray, Sydney.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170217....au/bulletins/

You will need to find the first ACF Bulletin for 2011 (January 18) from the list.

[Adamski]

Thanks for the links, blackbishop. A trip down memory lane as I was one of the organisers for the Australian Open at norths in 2011.

[antichrist]

Mr J A Pietzcker was a President of the Melbourne Chess Club and the Consul for Switzerland.
Johannes Alexander Pietzcker (Honorary Swiss Consul, Melbourne, 1932 – 1951)

During the second world war Johannes apparently acted to address problems experienced by German Nationals interned at the Tatura Internment camp, Victoria.

Around 1925 he suggested that an annual tournament be conducted in Melbourne to attract players from all over Australia and improve the quality of Australian Chess. He donated some prize money for the event. This became known as the Melbourne Christmas Tournament, the Pietzcker Christmas Tournament and, The Australian Open Tournament.

“One of the club's great benefactors was J.A.Pietzcker, who served his first term as president in 1925 and was a member for over 60 years. He flourished during the age of Gundersen. It is to Pietzcker we owe the Australian Open tournament, for that event was a revival of the Pietzcker tourney, endowed by him and held between 1925 and 1940. The Australian Open tournament was conducted by the club every 2 years from 1947 until 1953. Then the ACF took over, but did hold the first Australian Open championship until 1971: the Karlis Lidums International chess tournament.”

https://www.melbournechessclub.org/care-for-a-game by Bob Brooking, Melbourne Chess Club, History.

Winners of the Pietzcker Christmas tournaments:
1925/26 G Gundersen (5.5/6)
1926/27 G Gundersen (4/4)
1927/28 SH Woinarski (4.5/5)
1928/29 FM Crowl & CG Watson (4/5)
1929/30 BW Stenhouse (6/8)
1931 (April) FA Crowl (4/5)
1931/32 FA Crowl (4.5/5)
1932 (Oct/Nov) CJS Purdy (6/7)
1933/34 CG Watson (6/7)
1935/36 FA Crowl (7.5/10)
1936/37 L Steiner (5.5/6)
1937/38 M Green & CG Watson (5.5/6)
1940 (Mar/Apr) S Lazare (4/6)
1940 (Dec) S Lazare (5/5)

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...242924&kpage=2
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...s%20tournament

Is there a missing word here "not"? When the ACF took over were there or not Open tournaments from 1953 to 1971?

[blackbishop]

You must be correct about the "not". Perhaps I should have inserted the "not" in brackets into the quote. I was reluctant to mess with Bob Brooking's stuff.

[antichrist]

GM Rogers would probably comment that the ACF has stayed true to firm. Why they go to sleep? Not sufficient interest?

[Sheroff]

The first Australian Open I ever played was in 1984/85, in Ballarat, VIC when I was in my late 20s. It was my introduction to serious chess in Australia. It was won by Guy West, who played very convincingly throughout and had a nice miniature (with queen sac) against Hacche. American GM Pal Benko was also there.

I remember starting surprisingly well, with wins in the first half of the tourney against IM Alex Wohl (a cheap tactical swindle/exchange sac saved my very dubious position), IM Greg Hjorth (the recent Commwealth champion, who opened with 1.Nc3), and Bruce Holliday, who was Queensland champion at the time, I believe). I then scored a convincing draw against GM Benko, playing the Veresov opening (he was cranky with the result, and later, he was even less happy when he lost to Holliday. He later blamed jet lag for his poor overall showing).

So after the first 6 rounds, I was right up there with the leaders. Alas, my good fortune and rampant tactical bamboozelments weren't to last, as I was soon demolished by a then 19-year-old Stephen Solomon, an in-form Craig Laird and an always-dangerous Alan Goldsmith from South Australia - one of my favourite Aussie players and a tremendously dynamic attacker.

Little did I know that Solo would quickly develop into the most formidable player in Queensland chess history, Craig Laird would trade serious chess for prawn trawlers in the Gulf, and it would be 1999 before I played another Australia Open, in QLD. Good times....

[Adamski]

...and you, Sheroff, would write a quailty chess book!

[blackbishop]

As Mr Orwell pointed out, 1984/85 was a problem. Too soon for the internet, too late to be recorded on Trove, the Ballarat Australian Open fell into the Chess Dark Ages period.

The Ballarat Club appears to have nothing about it in its chess history section and there are no games from the tournament on Paul Dunne’s games database. It would have been written up in the chess magazines of the time, but they have all been used to make soup or worse still, have been shuffled off to the State Library of Victoria.

I did find the link below from the Canberra Times which had some special arrangement with Trove,


https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...ess%20Ballarat